


Keep Climbing

by theycallmesuperboy



Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Airline AU, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-05
Updated: 2013-07-05
Packaged: 2017-12-17 19:40:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,406
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/871264
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theycallmesuperboy/pseuds/theycallmesuperboy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jim, a flight attendant, flirts with Captain Spock, who at first ignores him. But eventually Spock gives in- and they start this series of affairs that weren't meant to be serious at all, simply meeting up when they were on the same trip- Paris, Rome, Milan- where they fuck and eat and go sight seeing, but then things don't go according to plan. </p><p>Airline AU where everyone works for the modern-day StarFleet airlines.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Keep Climbing

**Author's Note:**

> Basically this came about while I was on a flight to Boston to visit my friend Abby in Cape Cod for a week during the summer, right after I'd finished my road trip AU. I was bored and on the fifth plane ride I'd been on that week, and I noticed one of the flight attendants definitely wasn't American, and was wearing a little "Czech Republic" pin, and I started thinking about male flight attendants, and Star Trek and what everyone would do if they worked for the airline. I know Jim is a captain, but I felt like he'd be a much better flight attendant, and I always liked the flight attendant/captain romance. 
> 
> My mom is a flight attendant, and so I have a ridiculous amount of knowledge of the Atlanta airport (which is the largest airport in the world, by the way, and is where I'm originally from), Delta Airlines, and all the behind the scenes knowledge of flight attendant life, so MOST of this stuff is completely true- there might be a couple tiny details that are a little off because I thought they were insignificant enough not to actually ask my mom about. And so I thought, "Hey, I could actually write this!" And here it is. 
> 
> UPDATE: MY OLDER SISTER JUST GOT HIRED AS A FLIGHT ATTENDANT. IT'S OFFICIALLY THE FAMILY BUSINESS.
> 
> I'm shit at naming things and coming up with summaries, so I just steal names from things, like the title of this comes from the Delta Airlines slogan/motto thing.

" _Fuck,_ " Jim said, pulling his suitcase behind him, and waving to Bones at the gate counter. Bones gave him a, 'What gives?' look, but Jim ignored him, he doesn't have _time_ for that. Uhura, another gate agent, was standing next to him in her red uniform, one of the three colors StarFleet Airlines allowed their employees to wear, was smiling and handing a ticket back to a woman at the counter.  

She shook her head, "This is the third time you've been late this month!" she called after him.  

"I know!" he yelled, almost running down the jetway towards the plane.  

When he got to the plane door, he stopped, and pushed the handle of his suitcase in, and lifted the suitcase up, placing it in the coat closet. He wasn't _technically_ supposed to do that, but he was in charge, who was gonna rat him out?  

"Fuck," he said, "sorry I'm late! My alarm didn't go off!" If Bones hadn't called him to remind him he needed to switch over his new suitcase- his old one literally fell apart, and he'd bought a new one at the lounge in the airport, but he didn't want to part with the old one, it'd gotten him through six years of working for the airline- he wouldn't have even woken up at all.  

Chekov peeked around the corner, his uniform looking slightly rumpled, like always. He'd just joined the airline a few months before, and was still getting a hang of it. His black dress pants looked mostly fine, except for a little bit of dog hair on the hem from his and his husband's dog, his white shirt was rolled up to his elbow, and pinned to his gold vest a little pin of the Russian flag with 'Russia' written on it. Jim was wearing almost the exact same thing- minus the dog hair and Russian pin. The uniforms at StarFleet were really actually boring, the only diversity they were ever allowed was which of the primary colors they wanted to wear.  

"It is okay!" he said. 

"Just- fuck," Jim said, and looked around. "Did you guys check the medical equipment?" Chekov nodded, "The defibrillators and everything? What about the emergency equipment- the oxygen tanks," Chekov nodded, "and have you made sure the trash has been emptied? Is all the food-" 

"Jim," Carol said, walking out of the isle into the galley, shutting one of the open compartments, "We've got it." Her dark blue uniform dress went nicely with the two mens' vests. Carol was from London, one of the two places the airline was based, despite being an American company, if her accent hadn't already betrayed her.  

"Are you-" 

"Yes we're sure, I just did a last check now," she said, smiling. "Would you like to say hello to the pilots?" The door to the cockpit had already been closed upon his arrival- he'd been _that_ late, the pilots had already arrived, they were supposed to show up thirty minutes before boarding, the flight attendants at least forty minutes on domestic flights.  

"Not now- later. Right now we've got to get these people on the plane," he told her. She nodded, and picked up the phone, dialing the counter at the gate.  

"Hello, Leonard? Yes, please do. Thank you," she said, and hung up. "They're sending them down now. Do you want to take lead, Jim?"  

"Yeah, might as well," he said, and positioned himself near the door, in preparation to greet the oncoming people.  

A little over half an hour later, almost everyone was seated, and Carol was in the back helping one girl stuff her bag into the overhead bin. Chekov was on the intercom reminding people that this was a full flight, and that if they were able, to stow their carry-ons underneath the seat in front of them, rather than in the stowaway bins above them.  

Carol hurried back to the front, where Jim and Chekov were. She glanced at Jim, who nodded. She walked over to the boarding door, pulling it shut, and locking it into place, making sure it was sealed shut. Chekov looked at her, and said, "The boarding door is now closed. Please take your seats." Putting his hand over the microphone, he said, "Do you want to do the safety or should I?"  

Jim thought about it for a moment, and said, "You do it, Pavel, I'll take the conn." Chekov nodded, and handed him the phone. Jim lifted it to his ear, and grinned as he said, "Welcome aboard flight 1701 from Atlanta to San Francisco, I'm Jim, and I'm your head flight attendant today! Your pilots today are..." he said, and glanced at the duty roster, "Captain Spock... wow thats a weird name, but I assure you he's the best-" a couple of people chuckled, "and his first officer, Hikaru!"  

Jim leaned against the cabinets, and waved to the little girl in first class who was looking at him, "Now for safety..." 

The plane they were on had not yet been updated to hold the miniature viewing screens that the newer models had, so members of the crew stood in the isles with props, miming what to do while Jim told them everything they needed to know over the loudspeaker. Chekov was positioned at the beginning of first class, and Carol a little more towards the rear of the plane, in economy class.  

"Please pay attention, this is vitally important in case of emergency!" Jim said, "Please buckle your seatbelt low and tight across your lap, lift up the tab to release it," Chekov and Carol held up bright yellow, fake seat belts that weren't attached to anything, and showed the passengers how to buckle and release the belts. "In case of cabin pressure failure, the compartments above your head will open revealing oxygen masks, please secure your own before helping others," the two attendants mimed the prop mask falling, and how to pull the mask over their face and adjust the straps. "In case of emergency, the lights on the floor," they pointed to the lights, which ran parallel to the seats along the isle, "will light up and point to the six exits, which are to the front, side, and rear of the aircraft. If needed, please head to your nearest exit- keep in mind it may be behind you. In case of emergency the floatation devices are below your seats, and the seat cushions can be used as flotation devices. If anyone in an exit row is uncomfortable with sitting there, for any reason, do not hesitate to tell your flight attendant and he or she will be able to move you to a different seat, no questions asked. Remember, there is _no_ smoking on any StarFleet flight, even in the restrooms. Today we'll be offering a beverage service, with alcohol or snacks for purchase. Thank you for flying with us today, and thank you for choosing StarFleet airlines!"  

Jim hung up the phone, and turned to the cockpit door, knocking on it lightly. They had a couple minutes before taxing out, if he was guessing correctly. He really _did_ want to greet the pilots, because he _had_ to know who had that kind of name.  

A muffled, "Come in," came from the other side. Jim opened the door and turned to the copilot first, and confirmed what he thought earlier- he _was_ the Hikaru he knew.  

"Hikaru!" Jim said, grinning.  

Sulu grinned, "It's nice to see you Jim, you heading home, or is this just a layover?"  

"Just a layover, I don't know if I'm even going to go home, I think I'll probably just stay at the hotel."  

He nodded, "Yeah, Pavel and I are headed home. He has another trip in a few days, but we've definitely got time to go home." Chekov had once told Jim the story of how he and Sulu had met. Sulu met Chekov when he flew to Russia in the first couple months of getting the job, and they fell in love and got married as soon as Chekov turned eighteen, and he joined the airline to follow Sulu. Jim thought it was really cute, and liked to poke Chekov with it every chance he got. The kid was really cute when he squirmed.  

"It's nice to see you-" Jim said, and Sulu nodded. Jim turned to the pilot, and he stopped, thinking, " _Holy shit he's hot_."  

The pilot's uniform was spotless, and perfectly pressed, over a long, lean body. Neither the pilot nor copilot were wearing jackets- the were both hung on the hooks by the door. The pilots' uniforms were almost the same as the male steward's, with the exception of a colored tie instead of a vest, and they were required to wear a jacket and hat.  

Captain Spock was overlooking the controls, when he looked up at Jim. Jim looked him over quite obviously, and then made a slow trail back to him face, where an eyebrow was raised. "Hi- Jim Kirk," Jim said with a cocky grin, holding out his hand. Spock glanced up at him, but ignored the outreaching hand. "So," Jim drawled, "Why haven't I seen you around before?" Behind Jim, Sulu made a noise that almost resembled a chuckle as he shook his head. 

"It is likely because there are several thousand men and women employed by StarFleet airlines at any given time." 

"So- are you headed home? Or are you on a layover as well, because if you are, I think I know a way that we can pass the time-"  

"That is not necessary, I believe I am capable of occupying time on my own."  

"Are you sure?" Jim said, leaning on the side of the door.  

"Yes. Please leave. We are next in line to taxi," he said. Jim shrugged. 

"If you change your mind, you know where to find me..." he said, and turned and shut the door.  

"I should have warned you about Jim," Sulu said, shaking his head, looking over his own controls, "He gets like that when he sees something he wants."  

"It was not necessary, Sulu, I was perfectly capable of handling that on my own," Spock said, with lips pursed. 

Sulu pressed the intercom, "This is First Officer Hikaru Sulu, and welcome aboard flight 1701 to San Francisco! We're next in line to taxi out, so we should be the air in a couple of minutes."  

\--- 

They taxi'd out, and a little over an hour later, Carol started the beverage service. She took Chekov with her to the back galley, and they started pulling the beverage cart towards the  front.  

"Sorry, watch your leg," Carol said to a passenger as she walked backwards. They'd put the seatbelt light on just in case, but some people had ignored it, or hadn't been paying attention. "So how do you like being a flight attendant, Pavel?" she asked him, without looking up from the ground, to make sure she didn't run into anyone or anything.  

"It is fun!" he said, grinning, "I like to travel with Hikaru."  

She glanced up at him, "That's good."  

They'd reached the top of the isle, just before first class, which Jim would be serving. Carol turned to the first row, "Would you like something to drink? Peanuts or cookies?"  

Jim was almost done passing out drinks in first class. The drinks in business class were served individually in glass glasses that needed to be washed after every use, rather than the disposable plastic cups used in economy class. When he got to the last row, he said, "Sir, would you l-" the man, who had been looking out the window, turned towards him, and grinned, "Pike!" Jim said. 

"Jim Kirk."  

"What are you doing here?" Jim said, leaning against the middle galley's bathroom.  

"Vacation. Just got back from Ireland," he said. Pike was a retired StarFleet pilot who'd recruited Jim in his last year of college- Jim had only been nineteen when he graduated- he'd been accepted into college at sixteen, and finished in three years. Pike had always liked to take a lot of personal trips, since one of the perks of working for the airline, other than stuff like 401Ks and dental, was as many free flights as they wanted, retirees included, even though they were on the bottom of the standby list because they were no longer in the active line of seniority.  

"Ah- where's your wife?" Jim asked. Number One- as she liked to be called- usually accompanied him on these trips.  

"Visiting her parents in Germany," he said. "Well aren't you going to ask me if I want a drink?" 

"Oh, right, sorry. Want anything to drink?"  

He sat back, "Wine."  

"Red or white?"  

"Surprise me," he said. Jim nodded, and headed back to the galley. He squatted down, and looked through the mini bottles of wine in the lower compartments. There were four bottles of white, and seven of red. He considered being childish and doing enie-minie-miny-mo, because really, it wasn't above him, but he decided to be am actual adult for once, and choose based on the fact one of the numbers of bottles was even and the other wasn't. Red it was. He picked up the bottle, and grabbed a glass, glancing towards the cockpit. he stood up, and stepped over to it, knocking. The door cracked open, and Jim pulled it fully open, just in time to see Sulu sliding back into his seat after twisting around to open the door.  

"Hey guys," Jim said, propping himself up on the door. "Want something to drink?" he asked, grinning wickedly, waving the bottle of wine in his hand.  

Sulu grinned and made grabby hands, and Spock frowned.  

"We cannot drink while on duty," Spock said.  

Jim rolled his eyes, "Loosen up, I was kidding. Want anything like, soda or whatever?"  

"I'll take a sprite," Sulu said, and Jim turned around and grabbed a can from the open compartment, and held it out to him, deciding that tossing it would be a bad idea if he missed.  

"Here," Jim said, as Sulu turned and grabbed it.  

"Thanks," he said, and cracked open the can.  

"You're welcome," he said smugly. "Spock?" 

"No," he said. Jim shrugged, but glanced out the front windows. The view knocked him breathless. Ahead of them was the vast blue sky, dotted with white clouds that the plane flew right through. It was amazing, and yeah, a lot of the reason he'd joined the airline in the first place. It was the closest he was probably ever going to get to space.  

"I never get tired of this view," Jim said. He turned towards Spock, who was looking at him with a curious expression. "Are you sure you want to turn me down? It could be fun! I know this little place in-"  

"Please cease your propositioning," Spock said, turning away from him.  

Jim shrugged, "Well okay, if you put it that way," he turned around, and shut the door gently. He made his way back to Pike.  

"What took you so long, kid?" Pike asked. 

"What, you have somewhere to be?" Jim asked. Pike chuckled.  

"I guess not."  

"That'll be seven dollars." 

"Going to charge an old man who lives on social security checks, seven dollars for a bottle of wine?"  

"It's my job, so yeah." 

Pike shook his head, "Except I'm in first class, so I get drinks on the house." 

Jim shook his head, grinning, "Except you aren't _real_ first class so it doesn't count." 

"Real enough," Pike said.  

Jim laughed, "So, what have you been up to?"  

\--- 

At the end of the flight, after almost everyone had left the plane, Jim was waving goodbye to the last few stragglers and introducing himself to the more attractive of the passengers. Every so often he would step aside to let the cleaners onto the plane. Carol stepped out of the isle. "Is it okay if I go? My next flight is in an hour."  

Jim nodded, "Yeah, it's totally fine, I got this."  

Chekov and Sulu stepped out of the cockpit, "Is it okay if we go too?" Chekov asked.  

"We want to see if we can make it home in time to catch a movie," Sulu told him.  

"Yeah, yeah, go," Jim said. They smiled and followed Carol out onto the jetway. Spock stepped out of the cockpit holding the handle of his suitcase, wearing his hat, but his coat was thrown over one arm. Jim grinned, "Last chance." 

Spock sighed, "I shall endeavor to restrain myself." 

Jim looked at him, and then burst out laughing, "Was that _humor_?"  

Spock raised an eyebrow and turned to leave. Jim grinned and shook his head.  

\---

In the next month, Jim flew two trips with Carol, one with Pavel, he saw Gaila at the airport in Paris, and Scotty did maintenance on one of his planes that was leaking jet fuel. He didn't see Spock once. That is, until they flew the same trip to Paris- the one Jim picked up from Gaila, because her mom was sick and had wanted to know if he wanted it before she dropped it for anyone to pick up. He didn't really have anything to do, so he picked it up.  

Jim actually arrived on time to the gate. He waved at the gate agent, Christine Chapel, who smiled at him, and continued speaking softly to the angry looking man waving around crumpled up tickets in his meaty fist. Chris, Jim knew, had a spectacular talent for talking people down. He wasn't too worried about her- he was pretty confident in the patrolling security- Officer Hendorff, or Cupcake as Jim liked to call him, had threatened to remove him from the premises on multiple occasions before Jim was forced to show his ID.  

He was the third steward to arrive, and they expected the next six flight attendants to arrive soon- their plane was delayed due to bad weather in Boston, and they were all coming together as a unit.  

Jim wasn't in charge this flight, because it went by seniority, and he was the sixth highest seniority on the flight- despite being only twenty-five. Well, his twenty-sixth birthday was in a couple of weeks.  

He said hello to the two flight attendants already on board, and then went to check all of the emergency medial supplies before waiting for the food shipment to arrive. Three more stewards arrived- including Gaila.  

"Jim!" she said, and hugged him. She became a flight attendant to travel, but she took a lot of Paris trips, and Jim was starting to suspect it was her favorite. She'd been a computer sciences major in college- one of the really brilliant ones, but she realized that she didn't want to be stuck in some room all day typing code up in a computer while she was young and could be out there having fun, so the day she graduated she signed up for StarFleet.  

"So what's been up with you?" he asked, checking the trash bin in the middle galley. Gaila stood on her toes, checking the upper compartments, the hem of her red dress riding up dangerously high on her pale legs.  

"Mmm," she said lightly, "I was evicted from my apartment."  

"What?" he said as he shut the cabinet. "Do you need a place to stay?" 

"Oh no, I moved in with my neighbor," she said, shutting the cabinets she was checking.  

Jim grinned as he shook his head, "Oh Gaila."  

She shrugged, "What? He offered! Free of rent."  

"Be careful," he said, moving down the left isle. The planes for international flights were much larger than for domestic flights, and usually consisted of three rows, with as many as thirteen flight attendants.  

"That's what you always tell me," she said, traveling down the row in front of him to the last compartment. "I keep pepper spray in my purse and I sleep with a knife under my pillow." 

Jim stopped and stared at her for a moment, "The scary thing is, I can't tell if you're kidding."  

She gave him a wicked look, and put a finger to her lips, "You'll never know!"  

He rolled his eyes, and checked the last couple of compartments with her, and they made their way back up towards the main galley. The last three stewards had already arrived, and Jim only knew a couple of them in passing, but Gaila latched on to one of them immediately, and began chatting with her animatedly.  

Jim looked at his watch, and it was a little over forty minutes before the flight was to depart. The pilots should have arrived already, but Jim wouldn't have bet against their flight being delayed, like the other flight attendants'. He tuned into what the flight leader was saying, "... and make sure you sign up for breaks as well- you're required at least _one,_ " she said, eyes sparkling, and a couple attendants laughed.  

"I'll take the last one," Jim said, and she raised a perfectly manicured eyebrow over the top of her glasses.  

"Are you sure?"  

"Yeah, no problem, I want to make sure you guys are all set first."  

She smiled, "That's _my_ job!"  

He was about to reply when he heard the wheels of the pilots' baggage coming down the jet bridge. He turned to see who else was going to be on the flight, since he had forgotten to check, and said, "Spock!"  

Spock looked up from where he was speaking lowly with the copilot, a newer recruit Jim guessed, simply by the overall nervous demeanor he was sporting. "Jim Kirk."  

Jim grinned, "You remembered!"  

"I have an eidetic memory, I remember everything."  

"Wow that's awesome," Jim said, studying him. Spock didn't seem unnerved by it- in fact, he'd pretty much kept the same general expression and tone the entire time Jim had known him. He turned to the other pilot, and said, holding out his hand, "I'm Jim, and you are?" 

"Kevin. Uh, Kevin Riley," he said, fumbling to free his hand from under his coat, to shake Jim's.  

Jim laughed, "Don't worry about it." Riley looked miserable.  

"Why don't you just put your stuff away and stand here with us?" one of the other attendants said, a pretty blonde woman with a nice smile. He nodded, and Jim turned to Spock, as the rest of the attendants scattered for boarding. Jim liked the front, he liked to talk to people, and being at flight attendant was definitely a social job- made for a people-person like Jim.  

"Couldn't stay away, huh?"  

"As it is my job, I could not. And we have not seen each other in exactly one point oh four months, so I fail to see how I could not 'stay away.'" 

Jim just stared at him for a moment, before grinning, "Do that again." 

Spock looked puzzled, "What?" 

"That super genius math calculating thing."  

"I am unable t-" 

Jim shook his head, "Oh whatever, I'll get you to do it for me another time, the passengers are boarding, so either stand here and greet people with me, or go hide in the cockpit."  

Spock opened his mouth to reply, but then shut it, and turned towards the cockpit as the first passenger, an elderly woman who needed extra time to board, arrived. Jim smiled, "Welcome aboard, need help finding your seat?" 

\--- 

Around midnight, EST, Jim and a couple of other flight attendants served another round of beverages. Dinner was hours before, and the better stuff was for first class, although economy had something that was _supposed_ to pass as pizza, and they were permitted to buy snacks. Almost everyone was asleep, or attempting to be, so only twenty people asked for anything at all. They had a couple of more hours before they landed at one PM in Paris. It was the middle of the second break, the one which the head flight attendant and the nice one that latched onto Riley had taken, along with the only other male attendant on the flight. Gaila had promised to stay with him for the last break, and her friend had agreed to join them. Glancing towards the cockpit door, Jim knew both of the pilots must be incredibly tired, _he_ certainly was. Riley had taken the first break, and Spock had declined taking a break at all. Quickly making a fresh pot of coffee, Jim knocked on the door to the cockpit, and then pulled it open. 

Spock barely glanced up, fingers moving gracefully over the control panel, reading the data on the screens, and focusing on his work completely. Jim had never seen anyone that dedicated to, well, being a pilot. Even Sulu wasn't that serious, and Sulu _loved_ flying. Riley on the other hand, was half staring out the window into the dark.  

"Coffee?" Jim asked, leaning on the open door.  

"That'd be great," the copilot said, taking one from Jim. He looked much better now that he was in his element. "Can I get a cream, though?" 

"Yeah, sure," Jim said, and disappeared for a moment, then reappearing with the little container of cream. He handed it to the pilot, who was humming what Jim thought was _'I'll Take_ _You Home Again, Kathleen._ ' 

"Thanks," he said, sipping the coffee. "Ugh, are these always so awful?" he asked, making a face.  

Jim laughed, "Yeah they are." 

Spock had been watching the two of them with a curious expression, "Is this some convoluted way of seducing me?" 

"No, no, of course not, I always do this. I want to take care of my crew," he said, shaking his head, then looked at him, "Why? Is it working?"  

Spock sighed, and Jim swore he saw him rolling his eyes, "No," he said, then as an afterthought, "But I will have one. No sugar or cream."  

Jim grinned, and handed him the cup, "I knew it. Don't hesitate to ask if you guys need anything else." The copilot mock saluted to him over his coffee. 

Since the flight wasn't completely full, there were several empty seats dotted around the plane. Jim spotted one, plopping down to read one of the SkyMall mags, since he'd forgotten his book on the last flight, and he really hoped that the next flight attendant who found it was enjoying it, because it was a _good_  book, and he'd wanted to finish it. Before, ya' know, he'd lost it.  

Jim was idly leafing through the mag he'd plucked from the seat in front of him, licking his fingers to flip the page, when the man in the seat next to him whispered, "Hey, can I see that?"  

Jim looked up and said, "Hmm?" 

The guy pointed to the picture, in the corner of the page Jim had been glancing over, "That's a 3D printer, isn't it?" 

"This? Oh yeah, they're pretty fucking cool. My friend Scotty's got one," he said, handing the magazine over to the guy, "he's tricked it out to do all kinds of cool shit. He's even trying to compete with like, NASA to create the first food replicator." 

The man looked seriously interested, Jim noticed, "I work for NASA," the guy said, "but not in that department." 

"What do you do? Ground control? Um," he said, trying to remember all of the positions he'd researched as a kid. "Press?" 

"I'm an astronaut, actually."  

Jim took another look at the man, "Seriously? That's pretty fucking awesome, man. Sometimes I think I was born in the wrong century- they'd never let me go into space with all these allergies," he said, shaking his head.  

\--- 

Two and a half hours later, Jim was taking his break in the little break room for the crew, below the normal cabin. It housed four, barely-clad bunks and it was almost freezing, but they had as many mini pillows as they needed, as well as a bunch of those awful little blankets with the StarFleet insignia, and the company's motto, "To Boldly Go" on it. As if any of the crew went anywhere without stuffing a pillow into their bag in case they needed to crash in a lounge overnight.  

Jim was holed up in a corner of one of the bunks, with his pillow and three shitty little blankets that barely covered him, much less kept him warm. Gaila and her friend were curled up together in their pajamas on another bunk, conversing softly. Jim was tossing and turning and had been trying to fall asleep- fruitlessly- for over half an hour, when someone climbed down the ladder. When he rolled over, because he was a curious guy and he knew no one else was scheduled for a break, he was surprises to see it was Spock, who looked slightly embarrassed. Jim didn't have any idea why he'd be embarrassed, he was a pilot, and that made him, like top of the food chain. But then he noticed that Spock looked uncomfortable and was- wearing a sweater?- okay yeah, Jim had to admit that was kind of cute. Spock slipped off his shoes and took notice of the two lower bunks' state of occupation.  

Jim sat up, and said, "Spock?" 

Spock turned to him, "You are awake?" 

"Uh, yeah, have you ever tried to seep on these things?" Spock shook his head. "What are you even doing down here? I thought you weren't going to take a break." 

"The head flight attendant came in and insisted I must. Riley is currently manning both stations."  

"So you got caught?"  

"Essentially." 

Jim sighed, "Well, good luck sneaking back up there."  

Spock raised an eyebrow, "How did you-" 

"Know?" Jim finished for him, "I would have done the same thing," he said, laying back down, and turning over to face the wall for what was likely to be a _long_ three and a half hours.  

\--- 

When they finally landed, at about seven oh four EST, and one oh four local time, everyone was back to their stations. They'd served breakfast to everyone about an hour before arrival, and Jim had attempted to eat one, but really they were shitty, everything about airplanes were shitty really, so he just munched on an apple from his bag, and contemplated how much trouble he'd be in if he were caught stealing a bottle of the plane's whiskey.  

As the passengers were disembarking, Jim stood at the door with the rest of the attendants and said the standard, "Thank you for flying StarFleet airlines, we hope to see you again soon!" while waving cheerfully despite having had as little as two hours of sleep. As the last few passengers parted ways, Spock exited the cockpit, and pulled his suitcase after him. Jim stepped up to him as he was about to step onto the jetway. The other flight attendants were either getting their own belongings ready to get off the plane, or making final arrangements for trash and leftover food. He was really starting to wish he'd really taken that alcohol.  

"Are you sure you don't want to take me up on my offer, because I know this reall-" Jim said, but Spock looked up to him.  

"Alright." 

"What?" Jim said, startled.  

"I will take you up on your offer."  

Jim grinned, "Seriously?" Spock nodded. He had concluded earlier that Jim was unlikely to cease his pestering, unless he either agreed or threatened to call the airline on him for harassment. But he found Jim attractive, and wasn't adverse to having sexual relations with him, and also would rather not have been the catalyst in the end of his career. "Great," he grinned, and turned to Gaila, who was waving at the last few to depart, "Spock and I are getting out of here, so like, see you later?"  

She winked at him, and said, "See ya Jimmy."  

Following standard protocol, the two caught the crew bus to the hotel, and were assigned their individual rooms, and wordlessly, Jim followed Spock up to his. As soon as the door swung open, Jim had his hands on Spock. He'd been dying to get his hands in Spock's- completely ridiculous- hair from the moment he'd first seen him. Jim crushed his lips against Spock's, in a way he hoped was bruising- to him or to Spock, he didn't really care- and stuck his tongue down his throat, licking his mouth open. Spock, however, wasn't passive in this in the slightest. He seemed to view the entire event as a battle, one he intended on _winning_. But Jim didn't mind, he didn't mind at _all_. They'd long abandoned their bags at the door, and shed their clothes as they traveled towards the bed. Jim had always had a thing for the uniform, and wasn't shy in voicing it, "I've always wanted to do this," he said, panting, as Spock trailed light kisses down his jawline. "Fuck a pilot," he said, unbuckling Spock's belt, and untucking his shirt. He got a weird sense of satisfaction from seeing Spock all disheveled and knowing he'd been the one to do it. "Well, I have, but he was a copilot, and she was only in training." 

Spock stopped the trail of kisses at his collar bone, Jim's shirt lost somewhere between the door and the bathroom, and said, almost humming the words into Jim's neck, "Please cease speaking," the vibrations and Spock's hot breath making Jim shiver.  

"Yeah sure whatever," Jim said. What he really meant was, _yeah sure whatever you want, just keep doing that._  

Jim had noticed they'd reached the bed what felt like _hours_ ago, and Spock was _still_ wearing most of his uniform. It just wasn't _fair._ Jim finished unbuttoning Spock's shirt before pushing it off his shoulders, and discarding it onto the tacky carpet. Jim pushed Spock, who was looking at him with thinly veiled lust, down on the bed, and leaned over him almost predatorily. Looking over Spock's well-defined, muscular chest, Jim said, ever eloquently, "Wow you're hot."  

"My average internal-" 

Jim laughed, "Learn to take a compliment," and relieved them of the rest of their clothes, because even if he _did_ think fucking a pilot in uniform was hot, having them both not wearing clothes made his job a lot easier.  

He fucked Spock into the mattress, until Spock came- twice- in under an hour, getting him to call out Jim's name. Spock was far from a virgin, but Jim- Jim was an _expert._   

After the fact, Jim rolled over onto his back. He was staring at the ceiling, when he said, "You get a nicer room than me. Why is that?" when Spock didn't answer, he rolled over onto his stomach, and propped himself up, and said, "We should go to the Louvre." 

It was completely unexpected, and Spock was shocked into saying, "Right now?" 

Jim shrugged, and said, "Well, yeah, do you have anything better to do?"  

Spock, still shocked, simply said, "No," and so they went and looked at art. Spock wanted to get a taxi, but Jim told him that their hotel was only a twenty minute walk to the Louvre- and that they could see the Eiffel Tower from the room- so they walked. In the museum, they got lost twice, but a tour guide was happy to point them in the right direction, and Jim repeated to Spock several facts that Spock already knew, but Spock indulged him, and then Jim told him several that he _didn't._ What? He liked to read. 

\--- 

After the Louvre, Jim suggested they go to a little cafe he really liked that was near the hotel. It was within 'spitting distance' of the Eiffel Tower, but Spock informed him that he had no intention of spitting on the monument, and that that was a very imprecise way of measurement.  

Most of the meal was eaten in silence. The entire ordeal was a little awkward- minus the sex, that was mostly just hot- but Jim spent a great deal of his job trying to make situations less awkward and uncomfortable, so if he decided it wasn't going to be awkward, he certainly wasn't going to _let it_. He knew they were still learning each other, occasionally they bumped elbows or started talking at the same time, but when it came to silence, they were both pretty good at that. But as for silences go- it was a comfortable silence. Towards the end of the meal, Spock said, pausing, "Jim, I hope you do not perceive this as-"  

"A date? Fuck no," Jim said, finishing the sentence for him, and looking up from his plate. He took another bite of the green leafy stuff that Bones told him he eat more often, then said, "we're just like, having fun, and stuff while on trips. C'mon, you can't tell me you didn't have fun," he said, poking at him. Metaphorically. Spock had already stated to several people, including Jim, that he didn't like to be touched- in more or less words- and Jim was having a bit of trouble obeying his wishes- he was a touchy-feely kind of guy. In the physical sense. He practically oozed casual touching.  

"It was... pleasant." 

"Okay, well I'm just going to assume that's Spock for you had fun, so... why don't we make it a permanent thing? Like, when we're on the same trip, or in the same city or whatever, we just like, spend the time together? And like, have sex. Because that part was fun."  

Spock paused, and glanced down at his mostly empty plate, and then up at Jim, who was looking at him expectantly. His fork was paused midway in the air. Spock said, eventually, "That would be acceptable." 

Jim grinned, "Great! So... you want to head back to the hotel after this for a repeat of this afternoon?"  

\--- 

They didn't exactly exchange numbers, and Spock hadn't made plans to call Jim, but Jim had put his number in Spock's phone that night, sometime before slipping into his own room. They didn't see each other the next morning- he had a flight to Brussels, and Jim had a flight back to the states. They didn't even see each other for another three weeks. Within that time, Spock had one flight with Janice Rand, and Jim had a flight with Carol, both of whom were mutual acquaintances of theirs.  

They ended up serving on the same flight from New York to Munich. They didn't have much of an interaction on the flight, except for the customary duties of a flight attendant interacting with his pilots, since somewhere over the Pacific a kid had a pretty bad allergic reaction, and Jim sat with him for the rest of the flight, even after he was okay, since he knew what it was like to be somewhere without parents and have allergies that sneak up on you.  

He and Spock fucked when they got back to the hotel, and since it was already pretty late when they arrived, and they were both jet lagged, Jim didn't bother going back to his room. When he woke up the next morning, they had most of the day to kill before heading back to the airport for their individual flights, and Spock was already up. Jim rolled over, and said, "Good morning," with a cracking voice. Spock was sipping on a cup of tea at the little table in the corner of the room. He raised an eyebrow, but didn't say anything. "So I was thinking we could go to this one museum I saw advertised downstairs, in the morning, and just see what happens after that?" 

"That would be... acceptable," Spock said.  

"You and your acceptable," Jim mumbled, and got up to change. They visited the museum- which they both found very lacking, vowing to go to a different one next time they were in Munich, or maybe they'd take a day trip to Mainz, where they could visit the Mainzer Dom, or the Gutenburg Museum. They stopped for lunch at a little grocery, getting pre-made sandwiches to eat on the way.  

They passed a small park, which contained a couple of screaming children and their parents, and a few elderly men playing chess. Spock walked past them, not paying them any attention, but Jim, watching the game, stopped. Spock turned around towards him when he noticed his companion was no longer at his side, just as Jim reached over the board and moved a piece, "Checkmate."  

The man who's piece Jim moved looked from his partner to Jim, and grew very excited. He thanked Jim, in German, and Jim replied, in perfect German.  

Spock watched him, intrigued, and said, "You play chess?" and then as an afterthought, made a mental note that Jim spoke German.  

Jim shrugged, "Yeah, I was in the nation competition when I was a kid, but they thought I cheated, so they kicked me out. I haven't really played since." 

Spock looked to one of the empty tables with chess pieces on it, and said, "Would you be interested in a match? I rank a chess grand master, but I have not had a decent partner in three point two years, and have lapsed in practicing my skills since then." 

Jim shrugged, "Sure, why not?"  

They played for over an hour, and Spock was surprised to see, over an hour later, that this 'cheater' had beaten him. Jim hadn't seemed the slightest bit perturbed he lost the following two matches, and despite the losses, Spock was amazed. There was something about the way Jim played- something almost fluid and natural, unlike the shaky, aggressive playing he was used to. Jim played _with_ him, not _against_ him and Spock was in awe. He had immediately asked for a rematch after the first game, which he won, but after that, things came much easier. Over chess, they found they had a lot more in common than just working for StarFleet and a love of museums and chess. Jim was a certifiable genius. He could have been up there with the math and science leaders of the world, but instead he served coffee to those very men and women of a society he could have been part of. But he didn't mind, both his parents had worked for the airline. Spock, on the other hand, _was_ a certified genius, and only joined StarFleet as a "fuck you" to his parents wishes. Not that Spock actually _said_ that, but Jim could read between the lines.  

\--- 

Another two weeks later, after celebrating his birthday with Sulu, Chekov, and Gaila in San Francisco, and then Bones and Christine in Atlanta, Jim had a turnaround ferry to England to pick up members of the military, with Sulu as the copilot, Captain Rahada, and a couple of flight attendants he knew in passing, Tina Lawton, Martha Landon, Burke, and Doris Atkins. Jim liked those flights, because with the exception of the crew, the plane was empty on the way to England, and nearly empty on the way back. Basically they got paid to sit around and watch movies for a couple of hours, and then serve military guys and gals, and Jim always liked them.  

Jim and Tina had picked the same movie to watch on the little screens on the back of the chairs, so they sat next to each other in first class. Jim had started his movie about five seconds earlier than Tina, so whenever something shocking would happen, and he would gasp, she would turn and say, "What?" moments before Jim would hear her gasp, having caught up. Doris thought the entire thing was hilarious.  

Several movies, more than a couple drinks- soda and coffee only, Jim was reckless, not crazy- and a nap or two later, Jim was tapping his fingers on the armrest, and was really rethinking his career choice, because he was _bored_. He liked to be up and doing stuff, not sitting stationary for hours on end. Glancing towards the galley, he had an idea, got up and dashed into the galley, grabbing a tray. "Hey, you guys know what would be fun?" 

Martha looked up from her magazine, clapping her hands together, "Oh my god, I haven't done that in _forever_!" 

"Oh yeah, let's!" Doris said, and nudged Burke, "Hey, wake up! Jim wants to play!"  

Tina peeked out of her seat, eyebrows raised, "What do you mean?"  

Jim looked over at her, "Oh right, sorry, I forgot how young you are-" she looked slightly offended, "you've probably only been working for StarFleet for a couple of months, right? You probably haven't had one of these flights yet. " 

She opened her mouth to protest, but sighed, "A year next month. Now what is it you're going on about?"  

"Okay so basically-" Jim said, but Martha stood up. 

"It's probably just better if we show you!" she said, grabbing Tina's hand. She took the tray from Jim, who turned around to get a couple more. She placed it on the floor, and took a couple of steps back, before making a little running head start, and jumping on the tray, which slid down the isle. Jim had made his way back with the trays, and handed them out. Since there were two rows, Burke and Doris had started sliding on the other rows.  

Tina put the tray down, and said, "Like this?" before imitating Martha's movements, and squealing the entire way, till she nearly crashed into Martha, who was laughing.  

Burke was on his second round, and he yelled out, "Oh shi-" before crashing into one of the seats.  

"Are you okay?" Doris piped up, after everyone was finished saying 'ooh ouch.' 

"Just fine," he panted, and winced as he tried to get up. "I think I'll just stay here awhile."  

"Hey, it's my turn!" Jim protested, when Martha and Tina snuck back up to the front of the plane, giggling.  

"Ladies first!" Martha called, as she slid down the isle on her knees.  

"Don't worry, Jim," Tina said, "you can go next!" 

"Yeah sure," he grumbled, but put the tray down when Tina was successfully in the galley. She and Martha were beckoning him. He took a couple of steps back, and then ran, jumping on the tray, sailing down the isle, yelling, "Whoo!" 

\--- 

A couple weeks of boring flights later, only one made better by the lovely Janice Rand, Jim saw Spock again. He was headed for a layover in Ft. Myers, Florida, where he was looking forward to getting some sun- not that San Francisco didn't have sun, it _was_ California after all, but it wasn't _Sunshine State_ sun.  

Having made final checks, and seeing all personnel to their stations, except for the pilot, who seemed to be running late, Jim was sitting on the open jump seat, reading _The Vulcan's Heart,_ some smutty romance novel about a Greek millionaire and his mistress or something, while waiting for the pilot to arrive so he could give the a-okay to board. He heard wheels clicking down the jetway, and hopped up, placing the book face down so he wouldn't loose the page. He really hoped it was the pilot they'd been waiting for, he hated delays. It only dragged the waiting time out longer and made the passengers that much crankier.  

When the man stepped onto the plane, Jim was pleasantly surprised to see it was Spock, rather than the pilot he had been expecting. 

"Mr. Kirk," Spock said, with an eyebrow raised.  

"Call me _Jim,_ " Jim shook his head, "Jesus Spock, this is like the eighteenth time I've asked you to call me Jim."  

"Very well, Jim."  

"So are you like, jump seating this one?" 

"No, I am here as the pilot."  

"I thought, um," he took a step back and glanced over the clipboard with the duty roster on it, "Captain McKenna was scheduled for this flight." 

"It appears the captain has contracted lungworm, and is unable to preform his duties, and I was called in as a replacement."  

"Oh, well great!" Jim said, grinning. "So, like, yeah, I've gotta get back to work and stuff, but I'll meet you after? I shouldn't be the last guy on the plane today, or anything, so we can head off right after." 

Spock nodded in consent, and ducked into the cockpit. Jim turned around, still grinning, and bumped into one of the other flight attendants, who yelled, "Oops! Oh my gosh I'm so sorry!" 

"Hey, no, it's fine, really! Hey you're, um, Tamura, right?" 

She nodded, "Um yeah, sorry, I didn't spill anything on you, did I?"  

He glanced down, and noticed she was holding an open water bottle, but he appeared unharmed. "No, I don't think so." 

"Okay. Sorry, I need to, uh," she pointed past him. 

"Oh right, sorry," he said, and stepped aside, as she wove around him, and opened the cockpit door, to hand the clipboard she was holding to Spock.  

\--- 

Once they got to the hotel, Jim dropped his bags off in his room, and changed into swim trunks. It was only about one thirty in the afternoon, and he was dying to get to the beach. Despite it only being late April, the air was already hot and humid, and it was making Jim sticky, and he just wanted to wash it off. He'd glanced at Spock's room keys, and knew he was a couple of rooms down from him, so after pulling on a worn green t-shirt from his luggage, and grabbing his sandals, he walked the couple of feet to Spock's door along the outdoor hallway, and knocked on the door.  

After a few moments, he heard the door unlock, and Spock opened the door, fully dressed and almost imposing. Before Jim had a chance to speak, Spock said, "I assume you are going to partake in aquatic activities, judging by your state of dress?" 

"Uh, yeah. I was going to go to the beach. And I want you to come with me." 

"I am not fond of water," Spock said, attempting to close the door, but Jim stopped him, attempting his best doe eyes plea look.  

"Come on, pleaseeeee?" Jim begged, "I don't want to go alone! I might get like, mugged!" 

Spock sighed, but said, "If you insist. I will be back momentarily," he said, shutting the door in Jim's face.  

Jim yelled at the door, "I don't know why I have to wait out here! I've already seen you naked!" He sighed, and leaned back against the railing. Spock reappeared a few minutes later, dressed similarly to Jim, with a towel thrown around his neck. He was also carrying a small beach bag which presumably held sunscreen. Jim, on the other hand, hadn't even brought any with him.  

As they were walking, Spock said to Jim, "I do not know why we are going to the beach if the hotel maintains a pool-"  

"It's just- ugh _the principle_." 

"'The principle'?" Spock asked.  

"Yeah, like- we're in Florida, which is like, the beach state, and you want to go to a pool? It defeats the purpose!"  

Spock sighed, indulgently, "If you insist."  

\--- 

Since they were only two blocks away from the beach, as Jim had been informed by the woman at the front desk, they decided to walk. When they arrived, there were a bunch of other people already there- but Jim didn't mind, he liked people. Jim picked out a spot not too far from the waterline, but far enough away to where Spock wouldn't get wet if he didn't want to, and was about to spread out his towel on the sand when Spock stopped him. 

"Your towel is going to get sandy, let me use mine." 

"But yours is going to get sandy then!" Jim protested.  

Spock shook his head, "I do not mind, I grew up around the sand." 

"If you're sure..." Jim said, and turned towards the ocean, shielding his eyes. He turned back to Spock, "Man, this isn't nearly as nice looking as the beaches in the movies."  

"That is because the scenes for Florida beaches in movies are usually shot in Hawaii, California, or Miami. They are hardly ever shot on location," Spock said, as if he'd given the same lecture hundreds of times. Spock pointed to the bag at his feet, "Would you mind handing me the sunscreen in my bag? It would be beneficial for you to apply some of it as well." Jim bent down and rifled through the bag, before pulling out the bottle, and glanced at the SPF, crinkling his nose.  

"SPF 100? I didn't even know they made it that high! No thanks. I'm just gonna, like, tan," he said, and tossed the bottle to Spock, who caught it with ease.  

"It protects against UV rays, and you are likely to get burned." 

"I usually tan pretty easily. I haven't been burned since I was a kid," he shrugged. "I'm gonna go swim now," he called as he walked backwards towards the water, "You should join me!" 

"I would rather not," Spock said, reaching in the bag for his book.  

A little over forty minutes later, Jim was back from swimming and playing beach volleyball with a couple of college students from the collage nearby, FGCU. He dropped to the sand beside Spock, groaning.  

"I haven't done that in _forever,_ " he moaned. When Spock didn't bother looking at him, he said, "Move over," and climbed into the large towel next to him, and laid on his back to tan. For a few minutes he was silent, but he couldn't really keep quiet for long.  

"Soo..." Jim said, "you mentioned earlier that you grew up near the sand, but you don't like the water, and with that tan... I'm guessing you didn't grow up near a beach. So a desert then?" 

Spock glanced up at him from the book he was reading- 'A History of the Cold War' and said, "Yes," but didn't supply any more information.  

"So like... Um, Nevada? Arizona?" Spock glanced towards him at the mention of the latter, "Ah ha! Arizona it is! But wait, you don't live there anymore?" 

"No," he said, and then found himself saying, "Not since my mother's death."  

"Oh. Shit. Sorry, man," he said, dropping the subject and rolling over into his back, which was already tanning.  

Spock glanced over to Jim, who was uncharacteristically silent, and was struck by how... _golden_ Jim seemed. His entire body was tanned a light brown from the sun, and his normally bright hair was being bleached by the harsh sun to a much more golden color than what he'd already seen. He was struck by the sudden urge to _lick_ the vast lay out of hot skin, and force himself to look away. For now.  

When they got back to the hotel rooms, he immediately pulled Jim into his room, and did just that. 

\--- 

At the start of summer, Jim and Spock found themselves on more flights together than usual. They met up in Rome, Milan, New York City- where they fucked and ate and went sight seeing. Spock had never seen the Roman Colosseum and so Jim dragged him there when they went to Rome. In Milan, Jim joked about coming back for fashion week, but really he just wanted some authentic Italian pizza. In New York, where Jim lived for a little while a couple years back, he took Spock to all his favorite hole-in-the-wall type of places, and Spock insisted they go to the Statue of Liberty, even though they both had seen it numerous times. In Narita, Japan, Spock wanted to visit temples to study the religion, architecture, and history, so Jim tagged along, and insisted they go out to eat at a genuinely Japanese restaurant, not one of the places for tourists, and ended getting them lost in a shady part of town. They eventually got their food, but they may or may not have been eating with the Japanese mob. In the morning, Jim biked to a little dollar store type of place, a 100 yen store or something, and got a bunch of really cheap- but good- Japanese snack foods.  

At that point, they'd come to know each other pretty well, despite having only actually spent a couple weeks worth of days in each other's presence. Jim sometimes called Spock if he heard something really interesting, or to ask if he was going to be on a particular trip, or once, well, just because. Spock had only initiated contact a few times, but that was enough- he rarely spoke to anyone outside his family, anyway.  

\---

"Oh god this coffee is shitty," Jim said, after a particularly bad all-nighter, practically spitting the liquid back into the cup.  

"Isn't it always?" Gary grinned, pulling the refreshment cart past Jim, and up the isle. "Now quit whining, are you going to help me or not?"  

Jim took one last look at the awful liquid that was a piss-poor excuse for coffee and downed the whole thing in one foul swoop. When he caught up to Gary, he was shaking his head.  

"Three red wines, and a bottle of whiskey already, and it isn't even seven in the morning!" Gary said.  

Jim grinned, "Oh I love my job."  

\---

Jim had a couple of hours to kill before his next flight- his last one was cancelled due to mechanical problems that Scotty was seeing to himself, and Jim would have just gone and hung out with him and helped with repairs, except he couldn't get his uniform dirty, and well, wasn't exactly employed by the airline to do maintenance. He _did_ actually have a degree in engineering, so it wasn't as if he was just going to go _play_ around with the engines, although to be honest, that's all he's ever seen Scotty do. So instead of being productive, he was hanging out with Bones at one of the gates. He knew Spock was scheduled for that flight- he did still have a couple of friends down in ticketing- and when Spock walked past him, Jim gave a little wave. He raised an eyebrow, and walked past. Jim turned to Bones with a shit-eating grin, and leaned on the podium.  

Bones shook his head, "What's up with you and the hobgoblin?"  

"Oh we're totally sleeping together now."  

Bones stopped what he was doing on the computer, and turned towards Jim, narrowing his eyes, "You're doing what now?" 

"Sleeping together, you know," he leaned in, grinning, whispering, "fucking." 

"That's too much information, kid," Bones shook his head, "But what do you think you're getting into with him? I honestly have never seen him even have an ounce of emotion towards anything, much less _you_. It's a terrible idea, if you ask me," he said, stamping the ticket with a little more force than what Jim was sure was necessary. "Not that anyone ever does," he grumbled.  

Jim shrugged, "It's just fucking, Bones. Something to pass the time, you know? It's a fling, we aren't even exclusive."  

Bones narrowed his eyes, "Be careful kid," he said, but Jim waved him off, ignoring his warnings. 

\--- 

A week later, when Jim was halfway to Bangkok, Spock was just getting into Atlanta from a long flight from Dublin. He was really looking forward to getting home to Seattle and sleeping in his _own bed_ and was practically walking towards the gate in a daze, when he heard his name being called.  

"Spock!" he heard, and turned around, to see Nyota, in her red uniform dress, hurrying after him. When she caught up with him, he'd stopped, possibly backing up hall traffic, but at the moment, he didn't care that much.  

"Nyota?" She stood her ground next to him, crossing her arms. 

"What is this I hear about you and Jim Kirk?" 

He cocked his head to the side, "I do not know, I do not presume to know what you hear, as I am not you." 

She glared at him, "Cut the crap, Spock. You know what I mean." 

"Very well. But it is none of your concern." 

"Like hell it isn't!" she said, pointing at him, "You're my friend! I don't want you to get hurt. Jim- he's, fuck, he's just not your _type_ Spock. He flirts with more than half the airline, and don't even get me started on his women," she huffed. "And the thing is- he just gets _bored_ of them, and suddenly it's like they don't exist to him anymore! Just ask-" 

Spock placed a hand on her shoulder, and she quieted down, as he said, "This is unnecessary, but thank you."  

She paused, then sighed, "Okay. Be careful anyway," she said, and stood on her toes, kissing him on the cheek. "See you later," she said, spinning around, before walking off towards her post.  

\--- 

They have two hours to kill, so they fuck in one of the bathrooms.

\--- 

In Spock's hotel room in Salt Lake City, Jim walked around the room, complaining loudly about how unfair it is that men aren't allowed to wear dresses, but women are allowed to wear pants. "I mean, it's not that I want women to stop wearing pants, because that would be ridiculous, but I mean, isn't equality supposed to be about being _equal_? And we can't be equal if I can't wear a dress!" 

Spock raised an eyebrow over his book, from where he was sitting on the bed, "Would you actually wear one if you were able?" 

Jim paused, and said, "No, probably not, but it would be nice to be able to."  

Spock looked at him incredulously, but Jim just walked over to the bed, got on all fours, and crawled over to Spock, and pressed a kiss to his lips, before collapsing with a groan, "Ugh I'm so tired."  

Spock didn't roll his eyes, because that would be illogical, but he said, "Then sleep," reaching over to switch off the light.  

Jim just made a sound that sounded like, "Mmphm," with his face pressed to the pillow. 

Two months later Jim got his wish- StarFleet became the first breakthrough airline by offering a truly equal-opportunity employment opportunity, and everyone is allowed to wear dresses. Jim celebrated by wearing one of Carol's.  

\---

For over a year, they carried on with their affair, seeing each other a couple of times a month- four or so times if they're lucky- before Jim realized something that had been bothering him for months.  

He'd fallen in love. But he shut up about it really quickly- he'd made it clear from the start: this was only a fling. Albeit a long one, but it was a _fling_ he wasn't supposed to develop _feelings_ or some shit like that, and Spock- Spock who was absolutely fucking gorgeous with his long limbs and pale sharp features and pretty dark hair, and who was seriously one of the best lays Jim had ever had- probably had another four arrangements like theirs' on the side, but even thinking about it made him sick to his stomach because the thought of Spock with someone else-  

But Jim knew he didn't even have the right to _ask_ Spock if he'd been with anyone else since they started this thing because he _had_ been- at least in the early days- he'd messed around a little with Gaila, and Christine, and flirted with countless others, that was just who he _was._ But- fuck, now all he fucking wanted was to get home from a long flight and see Spock sitting on his couch reading some book about the Cold War, or like, microbiology or some shit, wearing his big clunky _adorable_ glasses that he only wore at night or really early in the morning, and one of his ridiculous sweaters, and oh god his fantasies were getting _domestic._   

He'd nearly had a heart attack when he'd realized it. One minute he was sitting on the jump seat thinking about going home, and then what Spock was doing- if he were sleeping or attempting to make tea in a hotel's shitty coffee maker, and he was remembering that the last time they'd been together, Spock had tried to make some, and Jim teased him and told him it would be awful, and even though Jim knew it was awful, Spock sat there and drank it on stubbornness alone. He'd pulled out his cell phone- in airplane mode of course- and was looking at a couple of pictures he'd taken during that trip to Mexico City, and he didn't realize it, but he was grinning down at the photos. A flight attendant, one a little older than him, smiled at him as she shut the cabinet above him, and said, "I'm guessing that's your boyfriend. How long have you been in love with him?"  

His head shot up, and he started to protest, "I'm not-"  

"Dating him? Well sweetheart, you should be," she said, and turned back to the glasses she was getting.  

He sat there for another half an hour until Leslie Thompson was sent to fetch him because he had _duties._   

\--- 

A couple weeks after the realization, and more than a week of silent _freaking out,_ Jim was sure that he could handle even being in the same room as Spock, much less talking to him. Or having sex with him. But he found that, once in Spock's presence, being around him wasn't that hard after all.  

They made plans to meet up in Los Angeles, even though they weren't on the same flight. Spock was coming from Seattle, and Jim from New York, but they both had a layover and Jim didn't want to bother going home. On Jim's flight, sitting in first class, was Bradley Cooper, on his way back to L.A. Since celebrities have oodles of money, although usually not enough to buy and maintain a private jet, and they need to get places for movies, they often fly first class on airlines, and it's pretty common for flight attendants to meet celebrities. Jim had met several- and not all of them were as nice as they seem in movies. But Bradley Cooper, as Jim and Doris found, was really fucking nice. He even took a picture with them, putting his arm around the both of them.  

Later that day, when he and Spock were fucking, he told Spock about it, "Bradley Cooper was on the plane today, and fuck, he was really hot," he panted as Spock fucked into him harder, Jim getting some perverse sense of satisfaction from making Spock jealous. 

\---

He knows what side of the bed he likes to sleep on, what he sounds like when he comes, the faces he makes at food that displeases him when he thinks no one is looking, and what kind of museums he likes to visit. He knows the kinds of trips he likes to pick up, what he sounds like when he's frustrated, or tired, or content. He knows what kinds of sweaters he likes to pack even if he's going somewhere warm, he knows that he _does_ feel, and he knows he feels about a lot of things. But Jim doesn't know Spock's mom's name, or where he grew up, or even if he likes women as well as men. He's never been home with Spock, and Spock has never been home with him. But he loves him, oh god he loves him. He loves the way he pauses before making a move in chess on Jim's iPad, he loves him in the way he always knows the approximate time for everything- until arrival, until the museum closes, how long they have left together before one or both of them has to be back at the airport. He loves the way he sighs contently under his fingertips after an orgasm, he loves the way his ear curves almost to a point, loves the way they can talk for hours on subjects like quantum mechanics, or the Sherlock Holmes novels. He loves the way they fight, even, with fists and words and mouths on skin. He loves Spock and he doesn't know what to _do_ about it because he's never had an all-consuming love like that before, and all he can think is to ask Spock to be his, forever, but he doesn't know how, and he isn't sure if Spock would even want him.  

"Mom," he said, siting on his couch, as she brought over microwaved leftovers, and sat down beside him, tucking her feet under him. "I think I'm in love with him. What do I do?" 

She smiled at him softly, "Do what feels right."  

She leaned over and kissed the top of his head, and he considered making a face like he used to as a kid, it would probably make her laugh. She'd been wanting to come visit him forever, and summer seemed like a good enough time.  

\---

Turning towards the gate, Spock spotted Jim. He was grinning, and for a moment, Spock thought that Jim had seen him. That's when Spock saw her. She was a little older than Jim usually liked- because he knew Jim's type, and Nyota had told him the other people Jim had dated, one night at the bar, when she started going on about people at work- but she was beautiful. She had long blonde hair almost to her waist, and she was slim, and had an almost fragile quality about her. Spock hasn't seen her face, because her back was to him, and she and Jim were talking animatedly. She said, "Well, I've got to go, Jim," a little louder, just loud enough for Spock to hear.  

She said something a little softer, and he shook his head, "He isn't here yet."  

"I love you," she said. Jim bent down and kissed her.  

"I love you too, Winona." She reached up hugged him. He waved to her, before turning around and heading towards the gate. She headed farther down the other end of the terminal, Spock never seeing her face. All he could think was that Jim had fallen in love with another person- one which was decidedly not him.  

At the gate, Jim was flirting incessantly with the gate agent, a woman old enough to be his mother. Spock found himself sickened by it, and passed Jim without saying a word, even when he heard Jim call out his name. On the plane, he stored his bag, and turned to the cockpit when Jim finally caught up to him.  

"Hey!" Jim said, out of breath. He was grinning, and his hair was disheveled. "Spock!"  

Spock turned to the copilot, who wasn't paying either of them any attention. "Would you mind giving us a moment alone together?"  

The copilot slipped off the head phones, and said, "What- oh, no, I don't, I'll just-" he said, stepping out of the cockpit, past Jim, who's eyebrow was raised.  

"What's that about?" he asked, then leered, "Going to have your wicked way with me now that we're alone? So, I was thinking that later-" 

"Jim- please stop." 

Spock just sounded so- _tired_ , Jim stopped immediately, and asked, "Are you alright?" 

"I am... well," he said. "However, would like to inform you that I no longer desire to continue our arrangement."  

Jim swollowed, and looked down at his feet, "Okay," he said, looking up.  

Spock was sure that he would have protested even the slighted, but it only reassured what he saw to be true. "If you would not mind-" he said, gesturing for the door. 

Jim took a step back, avoiding Spock's eyes, "Yeah, um, no I don't, sorry," he said, turning away.  

Later, when Spock passed Jim on the way off the plane, he met his eyes, and saw a look of utter sadness.  

He exited the plane quickly, and almost in a daze. At the gate, Nyota was typing something on the computer, when she looked up to see Spock, with a look of devastation on his face. She quickly abandoned her post, and pulled him over to the side.  

"What's wrong?" she demanded. 

He didn't speak for a moment, then said softly, "I have been emotionally compromised. I have ended my affiliation with Jim Kirk."  

A look of sympathy crossed her face, and she cupped his face, kissing his cheek, "Oh honey, tell me what you need." 

"I need everyone to continue performing admirably." 

Jim had just gotten off the jetway, when he saw Uhura kiss Spock. At first he didn't comprehend- but then he understood. Spock ended it with him because he fell in love with Uhura. She was hot- she was _really_  hot and she could be compassionate and stubborn and probably just what Spock needed. Not some damaged kid from Iowa. 

That night Jim let Bones take him out for a drink. Bones sighed when he told him, but said, "I hate to tell you I told you so, but I told you so."  

\--- 

"Jesus Christ Jim why did I let you talk me into this? Holy shit what the fuck is that, Jim-" Bones said, wild-eyed, a few weeks later. He'd shut the plane's window, and checked his seatbelt. 

Jim rolled his eyes, "It's turbulence, Bones, you really need to get over this aviophobia, you work for an _airline._ "   

"This was a terrible idea, oh god I may throw up on you-"  

"I think these things are pretty safe."  

"Don't pander to me, kid, it's your _job_ to think that."  

Jim snorted and rolled his eyes, as the intercom beeped on, "- testing, testing- oh great, it's working!" a man's voice came on. "Sorry folks, as you know the intercom hasn't been functioning, but it seems we've solved the problem! I'm first officer Hadley, here with Captain Spock, and we'd like to welcome you to the flight from Atlanta to Des Moines!" 

"Fuck, fuck fuck _fuck_ ," Bones said, clutching the arm wrests, and closing his eyes, leaning back in his seat, "I don't know why I let you talk me into this, Jim- I don't know why you needed me for moral support at Aurelian's baby shower, she's _your_ sister-in-law- Jim? Jim, where are you going? Jim-" Bones called, but Jim had long since stopped listening. He'd unbuckled his seatbelt, and was out of his seat, dodging past a flight attendant, and heading towards the cockpit.  

Jim knocked on the cockpit door. After a moment, one of the flight attendants came up to him, and said, "Sir, I need you to take your seat." 

He brushed her off and said, "It's okay, I'm a flight attendant."  

"Sir, I must ask you to stop."  

"I just really need to talk to Spock." 

"Sir," she said more firmly, but paused when she saw the look on his face. Softer, she asked, "What is your relationship with the pilot?" 

"I'm his friend- fuck, his boyfriend, okay, and I really need to talk to him."  

She looked at him sympathetically, but said, "I'm really sorry, sir, but the fashioned seatbelt light has come on, and you need to take your seat, you can talk to the pilots afterwards." 

\--- 

When the plane landed, Spock was the first one to exit the plane- he'd told one of the flight attendants he had another flight in thirty minutes, but he simply did not want to see Jim.  

\--- 

Two weeks later- after Aurelian and Sam's baby shower- they were having a boy!- Jim was back at work. Bones was over his 'near death experience' which Jim rolled his eyes at, but, fuck, he just really wanted to talk to Spock. He'd tried calling him once, but the phone rang and went to voicemail. He'd at least thought they were _friends._   

When he landed in San Francisco, Jim was tired. He'd done a red-eye from Narita, and was just getting back home. As he was heading towards the exit, he spotted a familiar frame. "Spock!" he called.  

Spock turned when he heard his name being called, just in time to see Jim catching up to him, "Jim," he said. 

"Fuck," Jim said, out of breath, "Have you been avoiding me?" 

"I- have not."  

"That was a really suspicious pause," Jim said. Spock yielded his eyes. "I just- I want to know _why._ "  

"There is nothing to discuss." 

"Bullshit- come _on_ Spock, I thought we were _friends._ "  

Spock looked as if he were going to tell Jim to leave, again, but he only sighed, and said, "This is not a place this should be discussed," gesturing to the busy corridor. Spock led them to the employee lounge, to a near-empty corner.  

"I saw you kiss a woman at the gate a few weeks ago," Spock said.  

"What woman? There was never any woman!" Jim spat.  

"I saw you with a woman, there is no denying it," Spock said, "you wanted to make sure I wasn't there before you kissed her. You told her you loved her."  

"I don't- Jesus Christ I don't have any fucking idea what you're talking about!" 

"You explicitly said, 'I love you too, Winona.'"  

Jim just stared at him blankly for a moment, then said, "You thought I was cheating on you with my _mother?_ " 

"Your mother? You called her Winona," Spock said, cocking his head to the side, puzzled.  

"Yeah, my _mother,_ Winona Kirk. I call her by her first name," Jim said, and then let out a chuckle, falling back on the bench, "Jesus Christ, this whole thing has been about my mother?" 

"I-" Spock said, suddenly feeling ashamed. This wasn't supposed to be this way, he wasn't supposed to _feel_  this way about him.  

"And what about you and Uhura? I saw you two kissing! You ended it because you wanted to date her!"  

"Nyota and I are not currently in a relationship." 

"You aren't?" Spock shook his head. 

"If you have no qualms with it then, and we are both unattached to other people, would you desire to resume our previous relationship?" Spock said after a moment.  

"Fuck Spock, I don't _want_ to resume our 'previous relationship,'" Jim said, still sitting. He wiped his mouth off, and looked up at Spock. 

Spock was frozen. He- Jim confirmed what he knew the entire time. This was not a relationship. This was Jim relieving stress, and letting out sexual frustration. "You do not?" he eventually said.  

"No. Fuck, no," he said, looking him in the eye, "Jesus, Spock, I'm in love with you and can you even _feel_?" 

Spock opened his mouth to speak, but shut it, still in shock. Jim let out a disgusted sound, and stood up, turning away from him. He was about to walk away, when Spock, panicking, grabbed his arm, and spun Jim towards him, causing him to almost gasp.  

Jim looked- he looked devastated. His eyes were rimmed with red and watery, and his mouth was hanging open. "Spock-" he said, almost a sob. 

Spock himself looked terrible- he felt completely lost, and he'd never really been in love before. He'd thought he loved Nyota- but what he'd had with her had felt nothing like this.  

"Jim, I-" Spock started, but he found that words failed him. He pulled Jim towards him, crushing their mouths together. Jim pushed him off. 

"What does that even _mean_ , Spock?" Jim spat.  

Spock looked him in the eye, "I have fallen in love with you."  

"Jesus Spock- that's not even- that's not what you _do_  when you love someone."  

"When I saw you with that woman, I felt anger towards her, towards you. I wanted to hurt you, the way you had hurt me, but I knew that I would never be good enough for you- you are like the sun, golden and full of life, yet I am..." he glanced down, "Yet I have fallen in love with you, all of your brightness and life. And yet I have managed to push you away. Please give me another chance."  

"Do you have to work?" Jim said, almost breathless. 

Spock glanced down at his bags, "I... can call in sick."  

Jim grinned, and Spock was almost blinded by it- he found it made up for any missed days, "Awesome," Jim said, and kissed him. 

**Author's Note:**

> So, how'd you like it?
> 
> Um also, tell me if any of the flight attendant lingo was too hard to understand or anything because I've been hearing it my entire life, so it all sounds just fine to me, so if theres anything that just does not make sense to you or something please don't hesitate to say something to me so I can fix it/clarify.


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